My Pitch Wars friend Kelly Siskind is on a roll! She released her first novel Chasing Crazy in early January, and she's already having the cover reveal for her next novel. Check out all the fun stuff for MY PERFECT MISTAKE: the sexy cover, description, and excerpt, plus there's a giveaway. Make sure to enter!

Congrats, Kelly!

And now here's the cover!

About MY PERFECT MISTAKE

What happens in Aspen is definitely not staying in Aspen . . .

A girls' trip to Aspen was exactly what Shay needed to forget about her toxic ex-boyfriend. She's got her girls, pristine slopes for skiing, and hot guys everywhere. Of course, her epic self-rediscovery goes completely to hell when a wild (and deliciously hot) skier knocks Shay on her ass . . . and war is declared.

Kolton doesn't know what it is about Shay that makes him lose it. Not just his cool---although she does have an unholy gift for that---but his restraint. When anger gives way to explosive chemistry, they're both shaken with the intensity of it. But somewhere between lust and hate, Kolton and Shay realize they could have something real . . . if they don't kill each other first.

He tosses me my anti-sexy helmet. “We should take another run before we head down.”

I catch it and shake my head, unsure I heard him right. “Sorry, we? Shouldn’t you be skiing with your buddies? It’s bad enough you hijacked my lunch and I have to sit at a table with you again tonight. Now you want to ski together? Thanks but no thanks.”

He lifts his arms over his head and stretches from side to side. A sliver of skin peeks out below his jacket. “The guys called it quits early. Worried you can’t keep up?”

As fucking if. The dude’s obviously egging me on, but he snaps my self-control. Everything between us is action, reaction. Spark and flame. What’s his deal, anyway? Why sit with me and ski with me when we’re worse than cats and dogs? If he thinks firing me up means he’s getting a replay of last night, he’s mistaken. Still, I need to beat his ass on the slopes. “Fine. I’ll take that run. It’s about time I put you in your place. But let’s be clear. We can have lunch and ski together, but there will be no sex.” A teen walking by stops midstride and doubles over in a fit of giggles.

“Everyone is wise until he speaks,” I mumble, recalling my granddad’s words.

Kolton straightens, a question passing across his face. “Are you Irish? My granddad used to say that all the time. Along with, ‘Shut your mouth and eat your dinner.’”

I laugh, abrupt and maniacal, the sharp sound catching me off guard. The energy shifts between us, like the first time I understood my Spanish teacher—the foreign becoming familiar. I frown, unsure I want Kolton to feel familiar. “Yeah, I am. The first curse I learned was feckin’ arse, and I’d kind of like to use it now.”

He smiles to himself, as though we’re friends who would sit and talk and laugh about our shared upbringing. Ruffled, I cram my helmet on, get geared up, and try to stomp out of the lodge all look out, buddy, but with the boots and Martian head, it’s a fail.

Skis on and goggles down, we race to the lift. He arrives first, making like he’s been waiting forever with a dramatic yawn. I roll my eyes and push past him. The lift line is empty, so it’s just him and me on the four-person chair.

“Mind not doing that?” he says partway up as I swing my skis.

The chair sways in response, and I rock my legs harder. “This?”

His olive skin grays. “Yeah. That.” He leans his elbows on the safety bar and closes his eyes.

A small-town girl at heart, Kelly moved from the city to open a cheese shop with her husband in Northern Ontario. When she’s not neck deep in cheese or out hiking, you can find her, notepad in hand, scribbling down one of the many plot bunnies bouncing around in her head.

She laughs at her own jokes and has been known to eat her feelings—Gummy Bears heal all. She’s also an incurable romantic, devouring romance novels into the wee hours of the morning.

I’m packing for a retreat with my critique group in the NC mountains, so no time to dawdle today. I can’t wait to see those ladies and drink wine and talk writing. There’s even supposed to be snow on Thursday, so I’m super duper excited!

sillage - the degree to which a perfume’s fragrance lingers in the air when worn; literally wake, trail (French).

3/1 - The sillage of her perfume follows him like an inescapable chain, even though it's been ten months since he buried her in the back yard.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

Whew, we’re already heading into the last week of February! 2016, where ya goin', man? Slow down and take it easy. There’s no rush to get where you’re going. Or maybe I just need to quit being a lazy bum and get crackin’ at meeting some of my goals!

So on that note, I’m keeping it short and sweet this week, so it’s time for this week’s 15 Minute Tweet Tales word.

2/23 - She knows a curious child is a good thing, but one more "why" from her pochemuchka and she's going to need the super-sized bottle of wine.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

naz - the pride or arrogance of knowing that no matter what you do, you will always be loved (Urdu).

I think when it comes to dogs, naz is a two-way street. We know that even if we are in a bad mood or yell at them, our dogs will always love us. And the clever canines know that even if they take a chunk out of the couch or chew up our favorite pair of shoes, we’ll always forgive them and their adorable faces.

2/16 - His naz is so extreme, he's also cheating on his mistress. Even worse, the three ladies in his life are all sisters. Dark times ahead.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

Claiming that the news I received a few weeks ago sent me into a grief cycle is beyond melodramatic, so let’s just say I went through a modified version of the stages of grief. And now that I’ve worked my way through to the end, I’m ready to share. Come along with me on my journey:

Shock

On the evening of Sunday, January 17th, I sent my editor at MTV an email telling him my article about Winnie-the-Pooh was ready for him to post on Monday. I got an automatic reply stating January 14th was his last day at MTV News. Uhhhhh … WHAT?!?!

Since he hadn’t given me a heads up, I figured that meant it was sudden, which suggested he was fired. So again – WHAT?!? And not to be selfish, but what did this mean for me? With the editor who hired me gone, did that mean I was done, too? Surely they would just transfer me to another editor, right? But why hadn’t anyone contacted me to let me know I should report to someone new?

Besides my editor, I only had one other contact at MTV – the weekend editor who had posted some of my YALLFest articles for me. So I sent him an email asking 1. If he could post my Pooh article for me, and 2. What the heck was going on? He immediately responded and apologized for the confusion, and gave me the contact info of a senior editor to inquire about my freelance status. So I sent the senior editor an email asking for clarification. Unfortunately, there was no immediate response from this guy, so I just sat staring at my inbox, having a mini-heart attack each time my notification dinged.

Denial

A few hours later, I got a message from my editor’s personal email account saying that MTV had essentially dismantled the entertainment team and let everyone go. Again I said WHAT?!?! but this time I added THE F*CK?!?!?!? to the end of it. In all the terrible scenarios I had come up with in my head, I never imagined the whole department had been decimated.

Then denial kicked in. Well, the department had only ‘essentially’ been dismantled. The weekend editor and the senior editor were still there. The site was still posting articles. My editor did not specifically say I was one of the ones let go. And freelancers are much cheaper than full-time employees, so maybe I would still have a job. I’d just wait until I heard from the senior editor. So I waited and waited and waited for what I was totally sure was going to be good news.

Bargaining

By Tuesday evening, I still hadn’t heard a word from the senior editor. Since timesheets were due on Wednesday, and I needed an editor to approve mine, I sent the senior editor my timesheet, along with another inquiry about my status. I also mentioned how much I enjoyed writing for MTV. I told him I had an interview ready to publish with NYT Bestselling author Beth Revis and award-winning Cristin Terrill (read the fun interview here), and that I had an interview scheduled for Friday morning with Scarlett Johansson’s sister Vanessa about Vanessa directing Scarlett in an Alice in Wonderland audiobook. Basically, I was trying to convince him to keep me on, and I honestly considered telling him I would write for free just so I could continue having exposure on the MTV site. But I stopped myself before I completely threw away my pride.

Anger

Then I waited. And waited. And waited. No response. So I ended up very embarrassedly cancelling the interview with Vanessa. I was super disappointed because 1. It would have been fun to find out more about the making of audiobooks, and 2. I would have been two degrees of separation from Scarlett freakin’ Johansson!! As my sister pointed out, that probably meant Scarlett would have read an article I’d written because it would be about both her and her sister. Gah!!!

And then I continued to wait for a response. I didn’t want to be a pain by emailing again, so I just stewed. Then payday came.

And I didn’t get paid.

Now I was furious. It was bad enough to ignore my requests for clarification about my status, and to blow off questions about what I should do with my interviews in progress, but to not pay me for the work I had already done?!? Flames! Flames on the side of my face! I imagined doing lots of unwise things via email and social media, but I didn’t want to burn any bridges. So I did a lot of ranting at the air like a crazy person, and I took a lot of deep breaths. A whole heck of a lot of deep breaths.

Then I emailed the very nice weekend editor and gave him a quick rundown of my situation, and he was super sweet and told me he’d take care of the timesheet issue right away. Fortunately, I did get paid on the next payday, so I didn’t have to pull out my big guns. Actually, I don’t have any big guns, so I’m super grateful to the weekend editor guy for taking care of the issue so quickly.

Depression

Even though I still haven’t gotten an official confirmation that my freelancing gig at MTV is over, I assume being ignored by a senior editor is a pretty good indication I no longer have a job there. So then the sadness kicked in. While I didn’t cry, I did take to my bed to sulk. I was really, really bummed. This was SUCH a perfect job for me. I got to write fun, fluffy articles about the things I love: books, movies, and TV. I got to pitch the ideas I wanted to write about. I got work on my own schedule (night owls for the win!). While it wasn’t much, I got paid for writing, which was a HUGE deal for me. I was making great contacts in the YA world. Yeah, I was definitely a sad, sad panda thinking I’d never again find a job as perfect as this one for me.

Acceptance and Hope

Finally, I got tired of wallowing in my dejection and started looking for the silver lining. As much as I enjoyed writing those silly articles, I had completely neglected my personal writing. I hadn’t written or revised a single word on any of my novels or screenplays since I started, so now I’d have time to write for me. And even though my stint at MTV was brief, it would look awesome on my resume.

And since I’ve kind of been bitten by the freelancing bug, I’ve been looking at other outlets. I won’t pursue any of them until I make some progress on my current WIP novel, but it’s nice to know there are other options out there.

I’m still not sure what went down at MTV, or why they decided to change things. And while I was bummed for myself, I feel really terrible for the full-time folks who were let go, especially my editor. I’ve been keeping an eye on the Books, TV, and Movies verticals, since those were the three I wrote for. For three weeks, they didn’t post a single article in the Books vertical, which gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction that my Pooh article was the last one posted. But then this week they did post a few, especially with the news of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child coming out. As for TV and Movies, they’ve still been posting there, but only a few per day, when it used to be several per hour. And most of the articles are of the newsy/gossipy type, so my guess is that they are fully embracing the ‘news’ aspect of the MTV News website and abandoning the other types of articles. But that’s pure speculation on my part.

If you want to catch up on any of my articles, this link lists all of them.

My brother got a puppy right after Christmas, and last week he had to go out of town for bit, so he asked me to come babysit my niece. I was thrilled to spend time with Remy, so I headed up the road to Columbia. Remy is so, so, so, so sweet. She’s a gangly, cuddly lovebug. She’s always excited to see you - even if you just disappeared for a quick pee break, she acts like you’ve been gone for months and that she has been pining away for you the whole time. Makes one feel appreciated.

Once my brother got home, I stayed a few more days with him. Okay, fine, I really wanted more puppy snuggles. But we all had fun. We ate some yummy food, played some Playstation games, and watched some cool things on Netflix. And of course fawned over Remy. It was a great visit, although I now have puppy fever, like, whoa! Best keep me away from animal shelter websites, or I might go on an adopting binge.

Now it’s time for this week’s 15 Minute Tweet Tales word, and it’s totally fitting considering how much time I spent squeezing Remy over the last few days.

gigil - an extreme urge to squeeze someone or something, usually because it's cute, but sometimes because it’s irritating (Filipino).

2/9 - When the babysitter sees the infant, gigil washes through her. Later, when the baby won't stop crying, she feels a scarier type of gigil.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

Aaaaaand now it’s warm again. Really warm. Yesterday’s high got up to 79, and it looks like we’re in for about the same today. Of course that makes me a happy camper, but the poor plants around here are so confused. And it will be cooling off again over the next week, although there are no more snowflakes in the forecast.

2/2 - Plastic tarps and bleach made him confident he'd pulled off the perfect murder, but a scintilla of evidence brought the cops to his door.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

Saturday was an exciting day! First, at around 6am, snow started to fall in the Lowcountry. Now as I’ve stated many times, I hate the cold, but snow is different. It’s kind of magical. At least for someone like me who rarely gets to see it. I know there are many people right now who would disagree as they’re still trying to dig out from under the storm.

But for me, it was thrilling to see the flakes coming down. I threw a coat over my pajamas and ran outside with my dogs. They pranced and danced right alongside me as I tried to catch flakes on my tongue.

It did end up sticking a bit, but it wasn’t enough to build even an ant-sized snowman. Just a thin layer of beautiful crystals. I know we always hear about every snowflake being unique, but I was surprised at how varied and intricate they were. Mother Nature truly is an artist.

The event was very cool - free wine and fancy food, and lots of people passionate about literacy. Mary Alice, Debbie, and Andie then spoke for an hour. Andie was part of the panel because she starred in the TV show The Cove based on Debbie's series, and she’s starring in a movie based on Mary Alice's The Beach House. All three women were extremely funny, and their stories about how they got their starts were very inspiring.

I succumbed to the fan-girliness of it all and bought books by Debbie and Mary Alice to have signed by all three of them. They were all very sweet about chatting for a bit, and my mom and Andie even talked about the fact that they both attended Winthrop University. Andie also had a little dog with her that she’d rescued a few weeks ago – the one that caused the airplane kerfuffle on Twitter. And I’m Team Andie about the whole thing – if she paid for first class, she should have either gotten it or been reimbursed, as I think anyone who had paid that much for a ticket would think, famous or not. Using the phrase ‘tourist class’ was maybe not the best idea, but I think it was poor word choice rather than being elitist. And she was just so sweet on Saturday that it’s hard to think badly about her.

Anyway, lots of fun stuff on Saturday. And then today the temperature got up to 68, so I’m happy to be warm again.

scripturient - having a desire or passion for writing; having a liking or itch for authorship.

Mary Alice and Debbie’s stories definitely showed they have scripturient longings. Listening to them talk about how they got started writing and the difficulties they’d overcome certainly lit a fire under me. And now for my tweet tale:

1/26 - Words murmur in her mind when trying to sleep, distract her while awake. The scripturient urge will drive her mad if she doesn't comply.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

Like much of the country, the weather here has taken a turn for the very cold. And as I whine about every time it gets chilly – I HATE THE COLD. Which makes this week’s 15 Minute Tweet Tale word especially appropriate.

friolero (or friolera for the feminine) - someone who is especially sensitive to cold weather and temperatures (Spanish).

Yep, I’ve always called myself cold natured or thin blooded, but now I’m going to call myself friolera. It has more flair, even if many people will have no idea what I’m talking about. And now here’s my tweet tale:

1/19 - I was always friolera, but your love kept me warm. You dumped me, now I sit closer to the fire. Closer. Closer. Until flames lick my skin.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

Before I get to today's 15 Minute Tweet Tale word, I'm thrilled to present exciting book stuff for two of my awesome Pitch Wars peeps!

First up is the cover reveal for Hayley Stone's debut novel Machination, which will be published June 14th. Ta da!

Perfect for fans of Robopocalypse, this action-packed science-fiction debut introduces a chilling future and an unforgettable heroine with a powerful role to play in the battle for humanity’s survival.

The machines have risen, but not out of malice. They were simply following a command: to stop the endless wars that have plagued the world throughout history. Their solution was perfectly logical. To end the fighting, they decided to end the human race.

A potent symbol of the resistance, Rhona Long has served on the front lines of the conflict since the first Machinations began—until she is killed during a rescue mission gone wrong. Now Rhona awakens to find herself transported to a new body, complete with her DNA, her personality, even her memories. She is a clone . . . of herself.

Trapped in the shadow of the life she once knew, the reincarnated Rhona must find her place among old friends and newfound enemies—and quickly. For the machines are inching closer to exterminating humans for good. And only Rhona, whoever she is now, can save them.

Hayley Stone has lived her entire life in sunny California, where the weather is usually perfect and nothing as exciting as a robot apocalypse ever happens. When not reading or writing, she freelances as a graphic designer, falls in love with videogame characters, and analyzes buildings for velociraptor entry points. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in German from California State University, Sacramento.

Machinations is her debut novel, releasing June 14th, 2016 from Hydra/Random House.

At nineteen, Nina has endured two lifetimes' worth of humiliation. Tired of waiting for it to get better, she decides to get going-across the globe to New Zealand. There she soon faces what she most fears: a super sexy guy ready to be Nina's next mistake.

Once Sam's life was all about having fun. That was before the accident. Now his friends have bailed and his world is broken. But when a gorgeous girl on his flight looks at him with passion instead of pity, Sam feels his old self coming back to life.

Now traveling together, Nina and Sam know this isn't just a fling. They're falling fast, hard, and deep. More than anything, Sam wants Nina to forget her fears. But to help her do that he must reveal his own painful secret-and risk Nina never seeing him the same way again.

A small-town girl at heart, Kelly moved from the city to open a cheese shop with her husband in Northern Ontario. When she's not neck deep in cheese or out hiking, you can find her, notepad in hand, scribbling down one of the many plot bunnies bouncing around in her head. She laughs at her own jokes and has been known to eat her feelings-Gummy Bears heal all. She's also an incurable romantic, devouring romance novels into the wee hours of the morning.

And now it’s time for the new version of 15 Minute Tweet Tales. In case you haven't read this post yet, I’m only doing one word/tweet tale a week now, and I’m tweeting it on Tuesday if you follow the #15tt hashtag.

This week’s word is noceur - party animal; one who sleeps late or not at all; or one who stays out late to party (French).

Hmmm ... I'm not sure if I qualify as a noceur or not. I definitely sleep late (or sometimes not at all), but it's because I'm reading, writing, or watching Netflix. I am in no way, shape, or form a party animal. Like at all. Anyway, here's my tweet tale for the week:

1/15 - When they met, they were both noceurs, reveling in their love from club to club. But soon she wanted more, which he didn't understand.

Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?

Babblings of a Boob Tube Junkie

I’m a writer and filmmaker exploring the magic of stories. I’ve always loved to read and watch television and movies, and now I'm creating my own stories via YA novels, short stories, screenplays, and even short films. I’m also an animal lover with a menagerie of pets; and, yes, I’m one of those people who puts party hats on their dogs and makes them “cakes” for their birthdays.

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